Vaida Thompson has research interests in outgroup rejection, health-related attitudes, and leadership processes. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 8, 9, and 34), the American Psychological Society, and the Carolina Population Center.

Professor Thompson was involved in establishing APA's Division of Population and Environment and went on to serve as its first president. She also served as the first editor of the journal Population and Environment, was a member of the American Psychological Association Council of Representatives, a member of the NICHD Panel on Population and on panels for Rockefeller-Ford on population issues, and has served since 1987 on the Board of Directors of the Study of Social Biology.